'Beauty' boycott urged after stoning sentence

The winner of this week's Miss England beauty contest is being urged to boycott the Miss World finals in Nigeria because of the decision of a religious court there to sentence an adulterous woman to death by stoning.

The pressure for a boycott comes from the European Parliamentary Labour Party, which says the winner of the contest in England should turn her back on the Miss World contest in Lagos.

Eleven contestants in the Miss World pageant, including those from Switzerland, Belgium, Norway and Kenya, have either withdrawn or threatened to in protest at the sentence handed to 30-year-old Amina Lawal for having a baby out of wedlock. If Ms Lawal's appeal against her sentence – passed by an Islamic Sharia court – fails, she will be buried chest deep in rubble and have stones thrown at her head. The sentence will be carried out when her child is weaned.

Mary Honeyball, the Labour MEP for London who sits on the European Parliament's women's rights committee, has begun the campaign to get the Miss World contest switched.

"Miss England should boycott it if it's held in Nigeria," Ms Honeyball said. "There's always an argument about sports and politics but sometimes it's necessary to make use of what happens to be around at the time."

The organiser of the contest, Julia Morley, said she was horrified at the stoning case but said she could not change the world. She denied that 11 countries had pulled out.

A statement posted on the Miss World website from the Nigerian Minister of State, Dulem Onyia, suggests the sentence is likely to be quashed by a higher court. "In the history of justice in Nigeria no woman has ever been punished in such a dastardly manner," Mr Onyia says.

But in the shimmering world of beauty queens, the call for a boycott has given the contestants more to muse on than is usual. "The fact it's happened there is not going to have an effect on Miss World. They try to bring in politics. I think based on what happened, it could have happened anywhere," said Nichole de Carle, 18, also known as Miss Leicestershire.

Sally Kettle, 20, who won last year's Miss England contest, said the issue would give her successor a difficult choice to make. "I don't follow politics but I do love my country," said Ms Kettle, from London. "If it was going to cause trouble – me going out there – I wouldn't do it because I don't know much about politics and I wouldn't have a leg to stand on. But they do Miss England and Miss World for a reason and it's not to annoy people."